How do Warren and Annette keep love alive?

Friday

Oct 12, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Liz Smith

‘Oh, and can I have a Cobb salad to go?"

That was Warren Beatty at the Beverly Hills Hotel Coffee Shop recently, having breakfast with one of his kids — at the usual L.A. breakfast time ... noon. And he was ordering that Cobb salad to go for his fabulous wife, Annette Bening.

With long-standing marriages and companionships falling by the wayside almost daily — Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman are the latest casualty — I never thought I’d live to see the day when I looked to Warren Beatty as a hopeful sign that not all Hollywood marriages are doomed. Warren and Annette have been married 20 years and have four children.

This star of stars looked fit and trim in a white Lacoste polo shirt and Levi’s jeans. (We are happy to note that Warren is not trying to wedge himself into those skinny jeans that don’t even look good on the very young.)

Overhearing Mr. Beatty’s order, our never-shy man-in-L.A. Hal Lifson, who was also breakfasting, recommended the chocolate coconut cake. Warren replied, “I forgot about that! I wouldn’t dare walk into the house without a slice.”

Annette Bening. She has her cake and eats it too. And we’re sure she allows Warren a piece, if that Cobb salad is too filling.

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We mentioned earlier this week an unusual TV occurrence that featured several generations of one famous family seen on one night in two sitcoms — Melanie Griffith’s daughter Dakota, Melanie herself and Melanie’s mom, the cool blond beauty Tippi Hedren of “The Birds,” “Marnie” and animal rights and preservation fame.

The infamous tale of Tippi’s bizarre relationship with her director, Alfred Hitchcock, is being examined in an HBO movie, “The Girl.” Tippi talked to writer Andrew Goldman about that unhappy time in her life, and it is still shocking to hear what she went through — his sexual advances, Tippi’s refusal and Hitch’s incredible revenge; he kept her chained to a long-term contract and would not allow her to work again. “I’d be a really big star if he hadn’t stopped my career. There were so many people who wanted me. All he said was ‘she isn’t available.’ That’s a mean, mean man.”

Goldman asks how she felt when she learned of his death? “Relief,” replies Tippi, honestly. But she did attend his funeral! “He ruined my career but he didn’t ruin my life. ... I still admire the man for who he was ... there is no one in the world who did films like he did. Nobody.”